Faculty Profile

Brigid Gregg

Brigid Gregg, MD

  • Associate Professor, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Associate Professor, Nutritional Sciences

The focus of the Gregg lab is to understand how early life nutrient stressors can program offspring risk for obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. We use both animal models and a human mother-infant cohort to understand the molecular events that set the stage for lifelong metabolic health. Our previous work helped establish the importance of early life for pancreatic beta-cell expansion. We are now studying the impact of nutrient stressors during the lactation period on the function of key tissues responsible for a coordinated response to glucose: the pancreatic islets, adipose tissue, and the liver. We also plan to examine the impact of maternal metabolic disease on lactation physiology.

  • Fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology, University of Chicago, 2010
  • Residency in Pediatrics, University of Chicago, 2007
  • MD, Case Western Reserve University, 2004
  • BS in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience, University of California San Diego, 1999

Neonatal/childhood determinants of pancreatic beta-cell mass

Stimulus to burst of postnatal beta-cell replication

Perinatal programming of adult metabolic disease

Nutritional alterations during the lactation period and lactational programming of metabolic disease

Hafner H, Chang E, Carlson Z, Zhu A, Varghese M, Clemente J, Abrishami S, Bagchi DP, MacDougald OA, Singer K, Gregg B. Lactational High-Fat Diet Exposure Programs Metabolic Inflammation and Bone Marrow Adiposity in Male Offspring. Nutrients. 2019 Jun 21;11(6). pii: E1393. doi: 10.3390/nu11061393. PMID: 31234301

Ellsworth L, Harman E, Padmanabhan V, Gregg B. Lactational programming of glucose homeostasis: a window of opportunity. Reproduction. 2018 Aug;156(2):R23-R42. doi: 10.1530/REP-17-0780. Epub 2018 May 11. Review. PMID: 29752297

Gregg BE, Botezatu N, Brill JD, Hafner H, Vadrevu S, Satin LS, Alejandro EU, Bernal-Mizrachi E. Gestational exposure to metformin programs improved glucose tolerance and insulin secretion in adult male mouse offspring. Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 10;8(1):5745. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23965-4. PMID: 29636523

Booms S, Hill E, Kulhanek L, Vredeveld J, Gregg B. Iodine Deficiency and Hypothyroidism From Voluntary Diet Restrictions in the US: Case Reports. Pediatrics. 2016 Jun;137(6). pii: e20154003. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-4003. Epub 2016 May 10. PMID: 27244854

Gregg B, Elghazi L, Alejandro EU, Smith MR, Blandino-Rosano M, El-Gabri D, Cras-Mneur C, Bernal-Mizrachi E. Exposure of mouse embryonic pancreas to metformin enhances the number of pancreatic progenitors. Diabetologia. 2014 Dec;57(12):2566-75. doi: 10.1007/s00125-014-3379-5. Epub 2014 Sep 24. PMID: 25249235

Gregg BE, Moore PC, Demozay D, Hall BA, Li M, Husain A, Wright AJ, Atkinson MA, Rhodes CJ. Formation of a human B-cell population within pancreatic islets is set early in life. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Sep;97(9):3197-206. doi: 10.1210/jc.2012-1206. Epub 2012 Jun 28. PMID: 22745242

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 734-936-2176

Address:
1500 East Medical Center Drive, D1205 MPB
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Areas of Expertise: Nutrition